The Internet is a haven for regular shoppers and bargain hunters alike. Considering many Internet sales transactions cross state lines, the lack of a sales tax often offsets shipping costs. The prevalence of Internet shopping has caused cities and states across the country to publicly cry about lost revenue. Some locales have even declared tax-free shopping periods to help local merchants compete. Many of the largest failures of the dot-com boom were online retailers. Billions of dollars were invested in such enterprises by persons and organizations with the glint of an online gold rush in their eyes. Many e-tailers are doing quite well. In the last quarter of 2002, online retail sales were estimated at $14.33 billion. (Verisign). Online sales will continue to grow as more people and businesses accept and trust such transactions.
How is this possible? Three letters: SSL. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the protocolthat secures every financial transaction between a shopper’s web browser and retail web sites such as Amazon.com, Hotwire.com, Thinkgeek.com and Buy.com, among others. By protecting the confidentiality of sales transactions, online consumers have confidence that their credit card information is locked away from prying eyes as it crosses the Internet. Without this assurance, online retail would be practically non-existent.
The presence of an SSL connection is commonly recognized by the presence of a little padlock icon in the bottom of most web browser windows. Also any web address that is secured by SSL has “https:” at the beginning of the URL.
But SSL can secure much more than just credit card transactions. Any web-based application, from email to order entry, can use SSL to protect information. This paper will demonstrate that SSL is not just for credit cards.
Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
A Brief History of SSL
SSL Vulnerabilities
SSL vs IPSec
Conclusion
References
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PDF Ebook SSL – It’s Not Just For Credit Cards Anymore!
